The debates over public employee pension benefits in Wisconsin and high-speed rail are, at heart, the same question: what to do about growing government debt? There seem to be four basic views.
On the Democratic side are the Krugmanites, who think we need to stop worrying about deficits and spend, Spend, SPEND our way out of the recession. While the 2009 stimulus bill preserved some government jobs, it did little to stimulate the rest of the economy, and Megan McArdle reasonably asks if, possibly, Keynesian economics, even if valid in theory, is just not practical because no country can afford the prescription.
(It probably isn’t fair to Keynes to call Krugman’s view “Keynesianism.” Keynes actually had a very pragmatic and nimble mind and his ideas were far from the one-size-fits-all prescription–more government spending–advocated by Krugman.)
Fortunately, few elected Democrats still espouse the Krugman line. Instead, since the November election, most seem to be saying, “Yes, we need to reduce deficits–but not yet. Let’s at least wait until the recession is over.”
This might be the view held by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who admitted to a Senate committee that the president’s budget is not sustainable. In the above video, his statement is castigated by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL). While it would be nice to hear Geithner’s response, many Tea Party conservatives seem ready to impeach Geithner for failing to present Congress with a sustainable budget proposal.
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Since conservatives are such strict constructionists, they should reread the Constitution, which gives the president very limited powers. Only four are specifically mentioned: commander in chief of the military, the power to make treaties (with the advise and consent of the Senate), the power to “fill vacancies,” and the power to veto legislation.
Beyond this, the president is merely the nation’s “executive,” meaning the person who executes the laws written by Congress. As my fellow Catoite, Dan Healy, notes in his book, The Cult of the Presidency, for much of our history that president did not propose laws, but merely carried them out.
In other words, writing a sustainable budget is the job of Congress, not the president or the treasury secretary. Yet Republicans themselves are split over how to do this.
On one side are Republicans like Florida’s John Mica, who talks the talk about cutting spending, but won’t walk the walk. Specifically, Mica says he oppose new high-speed rail funding but objects to Florida Governor Rick Scott’s rejection of the Tampa-to-Orlando rail project.
On the other side are the true fiscal hawks who not only want to cut discretionary budgets but are willing to look at entitlements. They, unlike most of their colleagues, are willing to accept the pain of budget cuts today rather than defer them to the future as so many past Congresses have done.
They should take a look at the 19 percent solution proposed by Reason magazine‘s Nick Gillespie and Mercatus Institute’s Veronique de Rugy. Using historic budgetary data going back to 1950, they demonstrate that, no matter what the marginal tax rate, the federal government has never been able to collect more than about 19 percent of gross domestic product in taxes. Raising taxes is therefore not the solution to deficits; the only reasonable solution is to reduce spending to or below 19 percent of GDP.
Actually, the Koch puppet has been clearly shown to be blatantly union-busting (but not the unions who supported him). His finance dept says there’s no crisis, and the situation the state is in was caused by the newly-elected right-winger who is clearly a member of the Wrecking Crew. Not hard to fathom. Not hard at all.
DS
It’s impossible to spend one’s way to prosperity. Consumers now owe $16,000,000,000,000. Consumers have tried to tighten their belts, but loose monetary policy encourages spending over savings. I once heard Krugman reply yes to the question “How much can we give each American to spend? Should we send out checks for $100,000?” Insanity.
I don’t understand how anyone thinks that public employees lying about being sick and shutting down schools is going to convince anybody that they deserve extremely high benefits during a recession.
The Madison protests look a lot more like Greece than Egypt.
Thank god someone is taking on the NEA, the largest and arguably most corrupt union in the nation. The NEA consistently puts teachers’ gripes ahead of empirical research-based practices proven to boost student achievement. The NEA protects abusive and incompetent teachers. It forces all teachers to pay dues, whether they want to or not, and then uses those dues for lobbying and other political purposes. Bring on the wrecking crew!
“The debates over public employee pension benefits in Wisconsin and high-speed rail are, at heart, the same question: what to do about growing government debt?”
Interestingly enough the unions in Wisconsin have agreed to adhere to all of the Gov’s financial demands (according to NPR). All they want is to retain their collective bargaining (a.k.a they still want a union).
Krugman has commented in the NYT about Wisconsin’s attempt to end the stranglehold of the NEA on public schools. He insinuates government ended private unions:
“Indeed, if America has become more oligarchic and less democratic over the last 30 years — which it has — that’s to an important extent due to the decline of private-sector unions.
And now Mr. Walker and his backers are trying to get rid of public-sector unions, too.”
Puhleazse. We’re more oligarchic because of the decline of private unions? Private unions priced themselves out of the market, and those jobs were shipped overseas. Private unions are largely responsible for their own demise. Contrary to his insinuation, government’s role in their demise came through unintended consequences of monetary policy.
He continues to blame mythical “financial deregulation” for the collapse.
He believes unions, including the NEA, are democratic when they force people to join and take dues without asking and spend that money, which was paid with taxpayer funds, to advance political ideology. But I guess that’s what democracy is to statists like Krugman.
Yes, but we have teachers hanging up posters listing the power of the president in classrooms across the nation that include the title of “Commander in Chief of the Economy”. WTF? I can’t find that enumerated power anywhere in the Constitution. This is how the NEA and public education has undermined limited government and individualism and replaced it with the state religion of publik edukation. Pledge allegiance, boys and girls! Genuflect to the almighty State!
Frank says: “Private unions priced themselves out of the market, and those jobs were shipped overseas.”
I agree to some extent. But this makes me wonder why all the hubbub about eliminating the unions, particularly if they’re willing to meet the governors budget demands.
I’d be interested in an enumeration of where in the yew-ess-eh there are manufacturing jobs that are competitive with $9/day Asian jobs. The health care costs in this country alone make us non-competitive, not even counting wages.
Nonetheless, none of that has anything to do with Walker’s ginning up an excuse to break a contract. And if libertarians can’t honor a contract, I’ll shore up the house for some seismic activity.
DS
Dan:
Show me where cars are being manufactured in Asia for $9 a day. At the beginning of the collapse, “The three American automakers generally [paid] about 30 percent more per hour in wage, pension and health care costs than Japanese automakers.” LG and Samsung pay an average of $1700 per MONTH in South Korea. Yes, China and India have average general manufacturing wages for about $2.50 to $2.70 an hour, making a daily wage of about $20 a day assuming an eight-hour workday (more if such regulations aren’t in place). These countries are making low-end consumer goods, though. So let’s compare apples to apples.
It’s true that health care costs make us non-competitive. Why is it that health care costs have far outpaced the rate of inflation? Government intervention has created or exacerbated the problem. Employer-paid insurance, encouraged by federal tax code in the 1940s and strengthened under the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973, makes no sense. Employers don’t directly pay for rent or gasoline. Why have them pay for health care? This system turns market price mechanisms on their heads.
But back on topic. Perhaps you can provide me of a copy of the contract between the State of Wisconsin and public employees. Perhaps somewhere in this alleged contract there will be a clause stating that this contract can never be ended or altered, that it is a permanent contract.
Bennett:
I think some of it is an issue of power. I think some of it is a fiscal issue. Ending collective bargaining means no more wage increases above the rate of inflation, and that helps keep future costs predictable and under control.
There is a solution to this dilemma, especially when it comes to public school teachers and their unions: allow competition and break the government-granted monopoly on education. Let the market set wages.
The way I read things, the current contract expires in June. Most changes, except increased contributions to pension and health care, wouldn’t go into effect until July 1, under a NEW contract. I can see why the state would want to change this provision given the $3.6 billion shortfall and the fact the government is bankrupt.
Speaking of contracts, aren’t demonstrating employees breaking their contract by taking sick days to protest?
Ah, Wis state employees are under a contract EXTENSION which ends March 13, so part 2 of #13 is false and just handflapping to divert from the real issue.
Sorry to spam the queue. Wish I could edit/delete my previous posts.
Frank,
I what to be clear that I’m not advocating for what unions have become over the last several decades. I sure don’t advocate that states cave every time government employees threaten to strike. But I do think that unions have a right to exist, which essentially means that professions can bargain as a collective. Seeing as the WI state employees are willing to meet every one of the legislation’s mandates with the exception of giving up their right to be a union, I think the Governor’s unwillingness to compromise is stupid.
To me, this is essentially the problem with our government. No compromise what-so-ever, even when there is a reasonable middle ground. Take the federal budget for example. Conservatives will not rest until every program that any liberal may support is no longer funded. Progressive legislators and Obama, in order to counter act this, significantly low-ball their budget cuts. The right answer is somewhere in the middle but the two sides feel the need to get into an ideological chest pounding pissing match before any work can get done.
…And I think decrying unions without looking at the historic significance of positive outcomes that unions have achieved is just fanning the flames. Government Intervention/Unions = Bad, Free Market = Good, is a false dichotomy.
Bennett, I agree with you on several points. I agree that unions should be able to exist, particularly in the private sector.
But I have several issues with public unions.
First, public unions use tax money to advance a political ideology. Second, they take union dues from workers’ checks without their express consent and use this a sizable portion of this money for political purposes, with which members may not agree. Rather than making membership voluntary, public unions force workers to join. Would you agree that these are problematic?
As for the extremes in our government, that is one of many reasons why I have stopped participating.
Oh, and my previous comment should read “part 2 of #9 is false”.
Thanks.
Frank says: “Would you agree that these are problematic?”
Yes, particularly the fact that they are not voluntary. Maybe this is something that can be changed?
Most governments just easily give in to union demands that the government deduct dues from paychecks and that the union does not have to re-certify every year. It is not a big problem for government, but it is a HUGE DEAL to unions.
So it is very smart to put those issues back on the table. If the union wants them, then the government can make them give up a lot for them. That is the negotiation process that unions say they love. Funny because if unions were actually popular with the workers, that wouldn’t be a problem.
The Guv put the issue on the table without the votes lined up. He played his hand, but it was a pair of twos. One wonders if the Koch boys or the US Chamber and their ad agency bent on making unions look bad will fund a campaign in 2013. I wouldn’t wager on it.
DS
Borealis,
I don’t quite follow you. It’s my understanding that the unions in WI are the party that is willing to negotiate and the the government is the party that will not compromise.
It’s my understanding that the unions in WI are the party that is willing to negotiate and the the government is the party that will not compromise.
I highly doubt that’s what they are saying on Faux or Reason mag or Heritage or anything that the Koch boys fund.
DS
Dan loves saying Koch. Probably because he mistakes it for cock.
Amen sucks!
snook
2 ? ?/sn?k, snuk/
–noun
1.
a gesture of defiance, disrespect, or derision.
—Idiom
2.
cock a / one’s snook, to thumb the nose: a painter who cocks a snook at traditional techniques. Also, cock a snoot.
AMEN! Dan loves to cock his snook! Cock snooker! God bless Amurica! (Oh however the fu©k he spells it.)
I don’t like it when union members be they private or public are greedy & make unreasonable demands.
Though the Koch brothers do have a very hostile & plutocratic political agenda.
“It’s my understanding that the unions in WI are the party that is willing to negotiate and the the government is the party that will not compromise.” – Borealis
“I highly doubt that’s what they are saying on Faux or Reason mag or Heritage or anything that the Koch boys fund.”-ds
It depends on how one goes about defining the terms along with what exactly is at issue.
If we’re talking about about the proposed legislation to limit what areas of compensation that collective bargaining can address, it’s hard to say who is doing what sort of compromising. What is the baseline for determining compromise? Did Governor Walker originally plan to introduce legislation to eliminate collective bargaining similar to the Virginia legislation that Virginia’s Democratic Governor Wilder signed in the early 1990s? The present bill is a compromise when compared to that.
And that’s where the question of compromise over what. To say that the unions are willing to negotiate but the government won’t sounds like a mixing of apples and oranges. In terms of the legislation that is WI’s legislature, there is currently nothing for the unions to directly negotiate on. Negotiation in that realm is between the state reps and state senators and, to a lesser extent, the governor.
The unions have already said they would agree to concessions on wages, health care, basically everything that the Guv wants. Except collective bargaining. That’s the issue. The Guv wants to destroy the union and collective bargaining. He doesn’t look as if he is going to make it, as he didn’t have all his ducks aligned. With Indiana and Florida not going along, polling against him and many prominent non-wingnuts calling him out, it is obvious he doesn’t have the cards. Lets see if he has the stamina to outlast the will of the people and enact the will of the very rich.
And a-holes like the IN Deputy AG talking about ‘live ammunition’, you can see where this is going. Personally I don’t care for the kids missing school, but dragging this out is shining light on the narrow-agenda TeaPurty and the lack of game and paucity of ideas of the wingers. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.
DS
Two comments:
1. Governor Walker’s prescription for ending unionization in the public sector of Wisconsin would be more defensible if he wasn’t exempting public safety unions in a blatant attempt to bestow a political favor. If anyone shouldn’t be allowed to strike, it’s police officers and fire fighters.
2. I always find it ironic that, to address the recognized crisis of inadequate and unaffordable health care and inadequate retirement funds, the solution of the right is to strip those benefits from the few workers (public sector) that still have them.
If a union can’t collectively bargain, it’s not a union. If the Gov thinks that public unions shouldn’t have the right to exist, he should come out and say it. Hiding behind a budget deficit is disingenuous.
The lapdog of the rich is soiling the carpet with his flailing about and blatant shenanigans. Let us hope he digs in. And takes some more phone calls ;o) .
DS
From Mises:
When even Faux “News” – Faux News – says that the GOP/TeaPurty line is bull—-, you know you’ve lost. We can only wait and see if poor lying, lickspittle Walker gets recalled for overplaying his hand. Its the The Wrecking Crew again. They are wrecking, not fixing. Aided and abetted by some familiar billionaires who supplied transport and seed money for some of the early TP rallies, and 20-minute conversations and big ad buys in WI.
Sane people and the well-informed know how they roll.
DS
Hey Danny Boy! That “Faux News” bit is really funny! At least it was 20 years ago when every two-bit liberal nut started using it a hundred times on every discussion thread.
I bet you still get laughs at the government planner conventions with that line. You should try the new “pull my finger” joke — they probably love that one too!
20 years ago there was no Fox News. Also the reason why people call it “Faux News”, is that they broadcast far right wing extremist despotic propaganda!
In flies the highwayman (a.k.a. Captain Obvious) to save the day just in time to be fined one credit for a violation of the verbal morality statute for the nature of his comments on this blog entry.
You cannot distract away from the fact that ‘despite never having spoken to the man’ the lickspittle spoke for 20 minutes on the intimate details of the strategy. Strategy to bust the union given to a complete stranger who so happens to be the billionaire who wants to bust unions.
That is: you can’t flap your hands to make go away what is going on here. It is a power grab for the plutocrats. The Wrecking Crew is redistributing middle class wealth upward (I showed the chart indicating such, but it got magically disappeared).
Not hard to understand what is going on when a cheap lickspittle who claims to never have spoken to the man gives details on strategy.
You have to either be a moron/blind partisan not to see it, or purposely trying to distract away from it so people don’t think about it.
DS
Wow, Danny Boy got himself into a brain seizure and is spouting liberal gibberish. I think he was trying to say “the sky is falling, the sky is falling!”
Maybe while he is on his way to the mental hospital it might help him relax to realize that if all these overpaid Wisconsin state planners don’t get in their new contract all the contractual rights they had in their last contract before it expired, they will still have pretty much the same union rights that all those overpaid federal employees have.
If you think it is the end of the world that state government employee unions are similar to federal government employee unions, then you might want to try to decipher Danny Boy’s rantings. After all, nobody screams louder than a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“You have to either be a moron/blind partisan not to see it, or purposely trying to distract away from it so people don’t think about it.”
A false dilemma (also called false dichotomy, the either-or fallacy, fallacy of false choice, black and white thinking or the fallacy of exhaustive hypotheses) is a type of logical fallacy that involves a situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are additional options.
What, pray tell, would those additional options be, besides ignorance or deception?
DS
BTW, since the Enlightenment we source our citations rather than copy w/o attribution.
DS
The facts:
Public school costs half a trillion a year. Charter schools, private schools, and catholic schools do it cheaper. Public school teachers make $10,000 more a year than their non-public school counterparts. Private schools have a lower student to teacher ratio. Results on reliable and valid standardized tests are far higher among the non-public school cohort. The graduation rate for public schools is about 30 percentage points below non-government education providers.
TOTAL PUBLIC SCHOOL EXPENDITURES: $562.3 billion
Current Expenditures: $476.8 billion
Instruction: $290.7 billion
Student Services: $25.2 billion
Food Services: $18.1 billion
Enterprise Operations: $1.1 billion
Capital Outlay: $62.9 billion
Interest on School Debt: $14.7 billion
Other Current Expenditures: $7.8 billion
(Digest 2009, Chapter 2, Table 178)
AVERAGE DISTRICT PUBLIC SCHOOL PER PUPIL EXPENDITURE: $12,018
(Digest 2009, Chapter 2, Table 182)
AVERAGE PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL PER PUPIL EXPENDITURE: $8,001
(The Center for Education Reform, Annual Survey of America’s Charter Schools, 2010, page 15)
AVERAGE PRIVATE SCHOOL TUITION: $8,549
Elementary: $6,733
Secondary: $10,549
Combined: $10,045
(Digest 2009, Chapter 2, Table 59)
AVERAGE CATHOLIC SCHOOL TUITION: $6,018
Elementary: $4,944
Secondary: $7,826
Combined: $9,066
(Digest 2009, Chapter 2, Table 59)
AVERAGE TEACHER BASE SALARY:
Public School: $49,630
Private School: $39,690
(Digest 2009, Chapter 2, Table 75)
FUNDING:
TOTAL FUNDING OF PUBLIC EDUCATION: $555,337,583,000
Federal: $47.0 billion (8.5% of total)
State: $264.2 billion (47.6% of total)
Local and private: $244.1 (43.9% of total)
(Digest 2009, Chapter 2, Table 172)
PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO: 15.7:1
Elementary: 15.6:1
Secondary: 16.2:1
Combined: 13.6:1
(Digest 2009, Chapter 2, Table 63)
PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO: 11.1:1
Elementary: 12.1:1
Secondary: 11.9:1
Combined: 9.6:1
(Private School Universe Survey 2008, Table 12)
This last one is sourced for you, Dan. People are free to select, right click, and Google my text to find where I get basic definitions, just like you did. Typically they come from Wikipedia or dictionary.com.
You got me good, though.
Hey Danny Boy, why didn’t source your Faux News joke? (Google finds that joke has been told over 4 million times before)
Are you a normal moron, or a hypocritical moron? What, pray tell, would any other options be?
Frank, I don’t make up the rules about plagiarism.
Nonetheless, speaking of logical fallacies (or is it Gish galloping?):
I don’t see the answer to my What, pray tell, would those additional options be, besides ignorance or deception? to your assertion of logical fallacy for my claim that it is obvious what Koch and Walker are doing.
Maybe I lost it in the Gish gallop.
What are, pray tell, Koch and Walker doing, and why did Faux “News” call them out on it?
DS
“Frank, I don’t make up the rules about plagiarism.”
This is golden. Who does make up “The Rules” about plagiarism? What do “The Rules” say about posting common knowledge to a blog discussion board? This is clearly another cheap shot and attempt to distract from your logical fallacy.
There are many more alternatives to your either/or statement, and I’m sorry that your black-and-white filter won’t allow you to even consider that alternatives exist. Ignorance or deception? Your mindset is so narrow.
You are a child.
Sh!t, I didn’t source #21. Better get on that before Dan accuses me of plagiarizing the dictionary!
According to dictionary.com, infantile means:
“1. characteristic of or befitting an infant; babyish; childish: infantile behavior.”
“Synonyms
1. puerile, immature, weak. See childish.”
That’s classic comedy. Hand-flap when called on the false accusations and the failure to source.
It’s classic comedy because it is so consistent. Just what we expect. Flapflapflap!
chuckle
DS
BTW:
Have you heard? The protests in Madison keep growing, as does solidarity. You can’t see it on corporate media who instead falsely characterize the protests as “simmering with violence and hate speech“, but you can follow what is actually happening on Twitter. Just like in the Middle East.
One wonders whether Anonymous will track the Koch boys’ email and what they tell their minions to do and say…
Every thing that the Koch brothers fund is sleezy & sociopathic.
From “The Anti-Planner” to crooked politicians.
The real distraction are the silly professorial accusations designed to divert attention from the facts about public education presented in #38, and by association, the NEA, America’s largest public union.
See #38 for details. Here’s the recap, which was ignored:
Public school costs half a trillion a year. Charter schools, private schools, and catholic schools do it cheaper. Public school teachers make $10,000 more a year than their non-public school counterparts. Private schools have a lower student to teacher ratio. Results on reliable and valid standardized tests are far higher among the non-public school cohort. The graduation rate for public schools is about 30 percentage points below non-government education providers.
$10,000 average difference between public/non-public teachers times 3,114,700 public school teachers = $31,147,000,000 EXTRA over market rate that the NEA has managed to coerce from taxpayers every year.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/28/opinion-the-lefts-unhealthy-koch-habit/
The Left’s Unhealthy Koch Habit
What do Charles and David Koch, brothers who run the Kansas-based Koch Industries, have to do with Wisconsin’s budget battle?
Almost nothing, unless you occupy the left wing of the political spectrum. There, you’ll find a group of bloggers and commentators who are fixated on pinning the unrest in Wisconsin, and plenty of other supposedly terrible things happening in the country, on these two businessmen.
On the surface, the Koch brothers would seem unlikely targets for the political left. After all, they patronize the arts, favor gay marriage, support legalization of drugs and advocate reduced spending on defense.
But they also have a unique distinction: They are two of the very few billionaires in the country who actively contribute to libertarian and conservative causes. Consequently, many liberals have engaged in what can only be characterized as a vicious campaign to drive them out of public life.
Left-wing websites such as Think Progress and commentators like New York Times columnist Paul Krugman have conveyed the impression that the events taking place in Wisconsin are somehow all about the Koch brothers and their company. As Think Progress put it: “Koch Industries not only helped elect Gov. Scott Walker, but is the leading force orchestrating his union-busting campaign.”
Never mind that the $43,000 that the Koch Industries PAC contributed to Walker’s campaign represents one-tenth of 1 percent of the money that was spent on Wisconsin’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
One liberal blogger tried to focus attention on the Kochs with a hoax. He telephoned Walker, pretended to be David Koch, and had a 20-minute conversation, which allegedly proved Koch’s influence on the governor. Never mind that the real David Koch, who lives in New York, says he has never met or spoken to Gov. Walker.
The latest conspiracy theory being peddled is that the key to Gov. Walker’s budget is a provision authorizing the state to sell power plants it owns, with Koch Industries supposedly scheming to buy them up cheap. Krugman wrote on Thursday that “there are enough suspicious minds out there that Koch Industries, owned by the billionaire brothers who are playing such a large role in Mr. Walker’s anti-union push, felt compelled to issue a denial.”
Never mind that the proposal has been around for years, that there is zero — absolutely no — evidence to support such a claim or that Koch Industries has said it has no interest in Wisconsin’s power plants. For some, apparently, conspiracy theories trump reality.
What’s really going on here is an attempt to silence people whose views liberals disagree with. After all, they don’t have a problem with billionaires using their money to influence policies and public opinion when the money is being spent by the likes of George Soros, a left-winger who, among other things, helps fund the Think Progress site.
There are important issues at stake in Wisconsin: how states can meet the budget crises that threaten them; how unsustainable pension and health care commitments can be reformed; how states can restore balance between the inflated compensation and benefits packages that public employees so often receive and the more modest compensation available in the private sector; and how the corrupt cycle in which public officials negotiate sweetheart deals with unions at taxpayer expense, in exchange for political support from those same unions, can be broken.
Instead of debating these issues, however, Wisconsin’s Senate Democrats have fled the state in order to make it impossible for the Legislature to transact business. By doing so, they have frustrated the democratic process, deprived their constituents of representation and attempted to reverse the results of the 2010 election, in which Republicans who promised to do exactly what they are now proposing were elected overwhelmingly by the people of Wisconsin.
What do the Koch brothers have to do with this? Little or nothing. That is, unless you prefer demonization to argument. Of course, attacking the Koch brothers serves not only to change the subject, but perhaps to scare off other wealthy conservatives who might consider participating in the political process.
Charles and David Koch run one of the most successful and most admired companies in the world. They have created many thousands of jobs, have served their customers well and have paid vast amounts in taxes.
Instead of trying to silence them, perhaps we should listen to what they have to say about how free enterprise creates wealth, and how government can both be restrained and made more efficient.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/28/opinion-the-lefts-unhealthy-koch-habit/
Missing senators rely heavily on union campaign dollars
The Milwaukee Journal reports:
The 14 Wisconsin Democratic senators who fled to Illinois share more than just political sympathy with the public employees and unions targeted by Gov. Scott Walker’s budget-repair bill.
The Senate Democrats count on those in the public sector as a key funding source for their campaigns.
In fact, one out of every five dollars raised by those Democratic senators in the past two election cycles came from public employees, such as teachers and firefighters, and their unions, a Journal Sentinel analysis of campaign records shows.
“It’s very simple,” said Richard Abelson, executive director of District Council 48 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “We have interests and because of that we attempt to support candidates who support our interests. It’s pretty hard to find Republicans who support our interests these days.”
When you take money from the Koch brothers you are self-interested. When you take money from government unions you are engaging in altruistic behavior! Got that?
I’m not surprised by your defense of the Koch brothers, you don’t give a shit about society or the world around you.
The Rand-toters presumably dutifully approve strikes by the rich elite, but harrumph opprobrium when the lower orders scramble for the few remaining crumbs.
DS